Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: An Examination on the Powerful Time in Office

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.

Controversial Policies

He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."

Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Broader Context

Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.

Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.

Interrogation Methods

But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.

Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty